"A household residing in North London seeks an remarkable and qualified educator to support their smallest child on his first steps to growing into an English gentleman."
Looking at this listing, you might readily skip the term "initial stages" as just an expression.
However, it may be the most significant element of this unique job advert, as it seeks to hire a tutor for a infant.
Numerous of responses have already been submitted since the unnamed family advertised their request for the highly paid tutor, who needs to be "an exceptional individual".
Over the last few weeks, the post has received interest in the press, with numerous wondering why?
Innovative Idea
The CEO, chief executive of a global tutoring firm, which is supporting the family in their search, said that despite first skepticism, he considered the concept "forward-looking", and "progressive".
When he spoke with the family, he mentioned they appreciated the unusual character of their demand, and how early in age their son is.
Nevertheless, they stated that they "were unwilling to delay any longer" to hire a tutor, as they had held off until their older child was five, and by that stage "cultural conditioning had by then become established".
But what did the family indicate by "cultural predisposition"?
It's "everything", he answered. "How you eat, the way you speak".
He stated the elder child had absorbed "extremely delicate, body language" from the family, and had adopted their cultural norms. The family told him they hoped to prevent history to repeat itself with their younger child.
The intention: To engage a British tutor, who must speak with standard English accent, to shape the baby from day one.
Osmotic Learning
"Much of the development at the outset here is somewhat acquired indirectly," stated the expert.
It's by means of this osmosis that the family are hoping the child will acquire the English characteristics they aim to instil.
He noted the tutor must be an individual who studied at "the appropriate educational institutions – the same kinds of schools as the family hope to send their son to".
"The educator just has to be the right kind of person, they'll be doing things they aren't even aware they're doing, effortlessly," he said.
Money No Object
The family told him the chosen tutor should ideally also have knowledge of or passion in riding, skiing, the arts and musical activities so as to inspire the child in a diverse set of passions.
Additionally though, he stated the family wanted the tutor to register the child on a variety of classes so the child would be "equestrian training and learning an instrument by the time they are about three years old".
In the family's minds, guiding their son grow into a "English gentleman" will result in achievement and create opportunities.
"For all the advantages and disadvantages of that, because it's certainly a status symbol," he adds.
But, in spite of all this instruction in "Britishness", would the child pick up so-called cultural bias from the international family he resides with anyway?
"Absolutely", said he. "They understand this might not succeed, but they've merely embraced the perspective of, 'let's give it a go and let's go as soon as we can', because the cost of it is irrelevant," he said.
Overly Optimistic
There are some in the education sector who express those concerns.
An education leader, CEO and founder of an educational organization, who also offer personal educators, wrote that "the development of becoming bicultural, or actually, forming one's identity, is something that must be experienced personally, not designed."
The expert noted that he had relocated from the Far East to the Britain at the age of childhood, and had been brought up knowing and embodying dual heritages. He progressed to study at the University of Cambridge.
"The idea that an individual can act as a living vessel of Britishness, an individual who can somehow impart the attributes of a English gentleman onto a one-year-old child, appears optimistic and impractical," he wrote.
"Based on my background, having a distinctly UK tutor from early childhood will will not instantly produce the result they want.
"I never had that kind of mentor, and however I have been lucky enough to experience many of the experiences they desire for their son."
He continued: "The fact is, self-identity can not be imposed from the outside; it must be embraced, and it must be internally driven."
Buying Britishness
Certainly, English culture is something the CEO hopes can be taught – and commercialized.
"In my view the fact that the international society holds us in this regard is something that we should be cherishing|valuing|appreciating
